ISLAMABAD: The war of references between the government and opposition parties continued on Thursday as the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz filed a reference seeking disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) secretary general Jahangir Tareen as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA).

PML-N MNAs Daniyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry and Maiza Hameed handed over the reference to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in his office.

The reference was filed a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued notices to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his son-in-law retired Capt Safdar, an MNA, to respond to the references some opposition parties and individuals had submitted to the ECP.

The references before the commission have been filed by the Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Awami Muslim League and Pakistan Awami Tehreek.

The PML-N MNAs in their reference have accused Mr Tareen of hiding his tax details and providing wrong information in his tax returns. They have asked the speaker to take action against the PTI MNA under Article 63(2) of the Constitution.

Earlier this month, the PML-N had filed a reference against PTI chairman Imran Khan seeking his disqualification on the same grounds.

In a tit-for-tat reaction, the PTI then submitted a similar reference against the prime minister to the speaker’s office on Monday.

The PTI said that the reference was part of the anti-corruption campaign it had launched in the wake of the Panama Papers leaks involving the prime minister’s family.

The PTI claimed that enough evidence was available to prove that the prime minister had uttered lies inside and outside the parliament about the property his sons and daughter owned in London.

Citing Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution, they said that the prime minister fell under the criteria laid down for disqualification of an MNA.

PTI ally and AML chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed also submitted to Mr Sadiq his own reference against the prime minister, seeking his unseating under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

Mr Ahmed also claimed that he had provided enough evidence to the speaker and expressed the hope that the latter would take action against the prime minister within the stipulated period of 30 days.

Now the speaker has four references on his table and it will be interesting to see how he deals with them.

Under the Constitution and the assembly’s rules of business, if the speaker does not take action on a reference within a month, it automatically gets transferred to the ECP for necessary action.

PTI spokesman Naeemul Haq has said that since the references of both the PML-N and the PTI are now before the speaker, it will be for everyone to see how he treats the two parties.

The PTI and Jamaat-i-Islami have also announced that they plan to move the Supreme Court against the prime minister.

Speaking at a news conference last week, Imran Khan claimed that according to documentary evidence, the prime minister was the direct beneficiary of an offshore company, Shamrock. Similarly, he added, as per a ruling by a London court, members of Mr Sharif’s family had been named as owners of several properties in London.

Mr Khan also claimed that he had proof of money laundering committed on behalf of the prime minister and his family.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2016